Improvement in brick-kilns



E. C. STERLING'.

Brick Kiln.

Patented No'v. 8, 1870.

N4 PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D C.

diend Seite EDWARD C. STERLING, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Letters Patent No. 109,150, dated November 8, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK-KILNS.

The Schedule referred to in theseLe'tters Patent and 'making part of the same.

Nature and Object of vthe I nventioa.

My invention relates to the means of burning bricks in such a manner as to prod uce a very large percent; age of bricks ofthe first quality, and at the same time to ((:lonsiderably'reduce the amount of time and fuel use v'My invention consists-.

liirst, in a new construction of down-draught kiln; anc

Secondly, in the construction and arrangement of au apparatus by means of which a blast of any desired temperature may be applied to any one or more kilns of a number in the same yard, the apparatus being so arranged that the blast may-be heated by being drawn through any other kiln of the number.

General Description twith Reference to the Drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved downdraught kiln A and a common brick-kiln, B, to which my blast-apparatus is applied.

Figure 2 is a section of the kiln A, somewhat enlarged, taken through two of the furnaces and peepholes.

' A is my `new form of down-draught kiln.

B is a common brick-kiln,snch as is ordinarily used for burning bricks.

C is the surface of the ground.

Down draught kilns have heretofore been constructedv small in size and arched over the top, a down-draught being caused bya small chimney, which communicates with one or more horizontal fines be neath the kiln.`

The furnaces in this form of kiln do not differ essen tially from those in use in common brick-kilns, except that a' perpendicular bridge-wall is built across the kiln a little distance from the inner ends of the furnaces to force the products of combustion upward to near the top of the kiln, from whence the heat-ed gases descend to reach the flueor tlues beneath the kiln.'

`These down-draught kilns are necessarily small, as

' the draught caused by a chimney acts to concentrate rather than diffuse the heated currents, and for this the dues, and in the corners and at the ends, only partially burned.

The ordinary down-draught kiln now in use has ca- 'pacity for from fifteen thousand to sixty thousand bricks, and is not more than half the width of a common brick-kiln but even to-support the narrow crowu -,arch extendip'g from side to' side, the walls are necessarily built very thick, and further strengthened by chains and braces to withstand the outward pressure of the arch, which is very trying, owing to its frequent expansion and contraction, caused by extreme change of temperature.

-These provisions causethe down-draught kilns to ybe very expensive of construction, and also very` inconvenient, and consequently expensive to tillY and l empty, as the bricks have to be carried iu and out by hand, there being no entrance for a cart, as in the common brick-kiln.

'Down-draught kilns burn the bricks with much more uniformity than common kilns, and with a saving of fuel, but, owing tothe greater expense of construction and operation, they are at present only used for irebricks.

The cause ofthe. uniformity'of action indown draught kilns is that the heat from the furnaces does not come in direct line upon any of the bricks, as upon the arch-bricks in the common kiln, 4but the heated currents in the down-draught kiln after leaving the furnaces are mingled and spread out in the space between the bridge-wall and side of the kiln, so as to operate equally across the whole breadth ot' the kiln, and descend from thence to the lues bcneath.

By my new construction of down-draught kiln, and combining a blast therewith, I am enabled to use the down-draught principle in kilns of the same width as common Abrick-kilns, (of a sizeto hold two hundred thousand or more bricks,) and which can, byhaving the top open and an opening, say fifteen feet wide in one side, be lled and emptied'with the utmost facility; and as there is no permanent cover and cousequent side-strain upon the walls, the latter are made as thin as those of a common kiln.

In my down-draught kiln, A shows the position of the furnaces, which are usually about seventeen inches wide and three feet deep from front to back, extending-through the outer wall of the kiln.

bare bridge-walls extending acrossthe kiln from side to side, about six inches from'the furnace-wall, and extending say tive feet upward from the level ot' the furnace grate-bars.

At about the height of the peep-holes of a common brick-kiln, say three feet above the bottom of anni didn.

, directlyinto or betweenthe furnaces.

The holes c, vbesides their use as peep-holes, as in a common kiln, receive tuyeres or nozzles, by which blasts are thrown into the kiln to diffuse the heat from the hotter to the colder parts of it.

d are dues beneath the bottom ofthe kiln, running across at right angles to the direction of the furnaces, and parallel with the bridge-walls.

. These fines may be eighteen inches deep and have transverse tiles, d', occupying the upper six inches thereof, leaving .twelve inches.unobstructed for the passage of the products of combustion.

These iues d communicate with a tine, e, which discharges through a chimney, f,4 that maybe common to two or more kilns.

The ilues d have dampers d", by which they may be Vpartially or wholly closed; and the tine chas a damper, e', and covers c to openings communicating with the open air.

g is an'aperture shown near the top of the kiln and below-the level of the platting, (or temporary cover made of bricks laid more or less closely,) said aperture being'conue'cted by pipes with the suction-aperture of a blower, by which the heated gases may be drawn from the kiln when the bricks have been burnt, so as to cool the bricks-and allow their removal much sooner than could otherwise be done, thus throwing open thel kiln to a fresh charge.

rI he hole g receives a pipe, li, whose other end is connected with` a pipe, 1i', attached to the blower i, and communicating with itssuction or iii-draught aperture,

The blower may be of any preferredconstruction,

but must be capable of operating witha heated blast.

The said blower may be supported on wheels, to aid its removal from kiln to kiln.

In any portion of the pipes h andh', between t-he kiln and the blower, is a damper, h, by which the pipe mayv he closed, or partially' closed, and between the p damper and the blower is a register, 7 t", for the admission ot' more or less cold an', as desired, so that a blast of any desired temperature may b'e forced from the blower.

'lhe blower discharges the blast into a pipe, y,fot'

which there is one for each kiln, communicating with-l a horizontal pipe, L', preferably beneath the surface of the ground.

' rl`he`hole g, forthe suction-pipe of the blower-7 though preferably located in the position shown, may, if desired, be made in any part of the kiln; and the pipe lz.H may be fixed to the kiln, and may be hinged to adniit its outer end to be raised from the blower, or the pipe h may communieatewitb the flue e, so as to enable the cooling off of the bricks by the continuation of the currents through the fines d and e after the tires have been extinguished in the furnaces, the damper c being closed in this case.

The pipe 7c, into which the blower discharges, has branches, I, leading to the kilns, which .latter are preferably located at regular distances on both sides of the pipe It.'

Each branch Z has a damper, L', by which it may be closed, and the said branch-pipe ends in two branches tuyeres are below the level of the top of the bridge-V wall.

IIhe tuyeres have valves, cocks, or dampers,.n, to regulate the blast.

The use of the blast to dilfnse the heat from the furnaces to the vextremities of the kiln enables me to apply the down-draught principle to an open kiln ot' usual width, say twenty-live feet inside measure, the top, when the kiln is iilled, being made of the ordinary .platting, formed ot' two or more courses of bricks, which may be laid close and daubed with mud, or temporarily covered in any manner, so as to make an impervious top, the bricks being laid openbeneath the top, so as to allow sufficient-lyv free circulationotl the heated-gases.

In ordinary brick-burning the tirst operation is to dry the bricks. To accomplish this small fires are kept up inthe furnaces, and the temperature carefully watched until what is technically known as the water-smoke has escaped; as, if the process of drying is pushed too fast, the steam is produced in such quantity as to burst or damage the bricks.

By the application of my improvement this operation of drying and ,heating is performed by forcing t-he heated blast through the kiln, thus drying and heating the green bricks without the expenditure of any fuel, exceptwhat may be required to run the blower, and admitting the degree of heat to be tempered wit-l1 nicety.

In ordinary brick-burning it is necessary to keep` up the fires a sufficient length of time to burn the bricks in the top and sides of the kiln after the lower part of the kiln is burnt, the heat during the latter portion of the time being of no value to the-bricks in the lower half of the kiln, and even detrimental to the bricks nearest to the tire to such an extent as to render them almost worthless. Much of the heat escapes from the kiln without fulfilling any4 useful purpose while some portion of it is reachingthe corners, which 4it does chiefly by conduction through the body of the bricks and air-spaces between them.

Thus, in the ordinary way of burning, timeand fuel are wasted and many of the bricks (usually more than half.) somewhat over or under-burnt.

JThis is not the case where the heat is diffused through the kiln by a blast.

Much time is saved by causing cold air to pass through the kiln aft-er it is burnt, to allow the speedy removal of the bricks, as before stated.

The air may be either drawn or forced through the kiln by means ofthe blower tand the pipes'and tlues connected therewith.

The saving of time by means of the blast air diffusing the heatand iu cooling the kilu would amount to about fortyper cent. of the time usually expended in the drying and burning.

ing-blast may bc injected into the base-dues (the same heilig shut off from communication withy the chimney) and allowed to escape through the top, or, if ,the blastis injected through the tuyeres m (the furnaces and peep-holes being then closed and the top reina-innig tight) the escape from the kiln `will be had thronglrthe base-dues and chimney, as in burning.

In the down-draught kiln A, after the bricks are burnt and it is desired to cool them, thev preferable manner of causing air to pass through the kiln would be to exhaust by means ofthe blower connected withv the hole'g, the furnaces and peep-holes being closed and the covers c" of the flue c being removed, so as to admit the air; but the air, it' preferred, might be flow in either through the furnaces and peepholes,'or the aperture g, or in any other manner.

Common brickfkilns can be easily'and cheaply con- 'verted into down-draught kilns of my construction by burning, and lwith'a corresponding saving of fnelin.

In the case of the umm-draught kiln A the dry drawn out through the base-dues and be allowed to the addition of bridgewalls,base-fines, main fine e, and chimney. Y, f

`My blast apparatus can be readily applied ingan'y ordinary brick-yard, `and to common kilns, as -the blast-pipes may be connected with all the kilns in manner substantially ais described, though modified [as the arrangement of kilns may demand.

of an imperforate deecting Waller walls bin the body of the'kiln, extending upward from thehearth of the same toward the top thereof and base-fines d, in direct communication with the'interior ofthe kiln,

substantially as' herein shown and described.

vr2.' The.shiftable blower h, constructed with necksv h' h'f andadjnstable register h' i, the pipes jk l L', and nozzles m,- combined and arranged substantially as shown and described, in connection with two or more kilns, to exhaust the hotgases from any one kiln, and to f orce said gases, mingled with more or less air, through one or more of the other kilns, as set forth. l

In testimony ofwhich invention, I hereunto subscribe my hand.

E. C. STERLING. Witnesses:

SAML. KNIGHT, JAMES LUKE. 

